No further provisions at the Co-op bank for PPI mis selling

Published: 08/09/2015

The bad news stories at the Co-op bank continue. After revelations that it was the only UK lender to fail a stress test by the Bank of England last year come reports of a £204m H1 loss in 2015. The pre-tax losses of £204.2m are up £127.2m on 2014. The bank blames ‘legacy issues’ saying that these have arisen as a consequence of the business transformation required and in particular the net losses on asset sales of £38.2m and the increase in project costs of £33.1m.

On a more positive note whilst the Co-op set aside £49.0m of conduct and legal risk charges no new provisions were made for PPI mis selling. The bank has also seen a stronger performance in H1 2015 when compared with H1 2014. Mortgage applications and completions increased in H1 2015 with mortgage completions totalling £1.1bn – in 2014 completions totalled £1.1bn over the whole year.

Solicitor Paul Cahill comments:

“It’s ironic that the Co-op bank has a more positive story to report regarding mis sold PPI and yet with the reports that it failed the Bank of England stress test last year – the only UK bank to do so it continues to have a black mark over its name.

“The scandal surrounding mis sold payment protection insurance has overshadowed all of the main UK banks and it’s good to see that the Co-op appears to be getting a grip on this issue and pushing on with resolving it for their many customers.”